Both sides in the strike that has crippled the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have agreed to federal mediation, L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Tuesday at a news conference. Villaraigosa said the agreement was an encouraging sign and could help bring an end to the strike, now in its eighth day. He said the parties negotiated throughout the night and there had been some recent movement. “I'm hopeful that the mediator will be here today,” Villaraigosa told reporters.

About 800 clerical workers based at the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports find themselves in a position to wreak havoc on the economy of Southern California. Members of a local unit of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, they have gone on strike against the shipping companies that employ them, shutting down most of the cargo terminals at the two ports. The dispute epitomizes the issues confronted by organized labor in a globally connected world: The union is fighting to hold onto jobs that are increasingly threatened by automation and the Internet.

Experienced negotiators and federal mediators couldn't resolve the labor dispute that threatens to consume the 2012-13 NHL season, so Thursday the league proposed putting the stalemate directly in the hands of players and owners. Sessions conducted by officials of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service produced no agreement between the league and the NHL Players' Assn., leaving in place the lockout the NHL imposed on Sept. 15. After Thursday's talks, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman proposed arranging a meeting that would exclude executives on both sides and allow owners and players to have an unfiltered exchange of ideas.

The NHL and NHL Players' Assn. agreed Monday to allow the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service to bring fresh perspective to a dispute that's threatening to devour the 2012-13 season. The FMCS, a government agency that has no ties to either labor or management, helps resolve conflicts in industry, government agencies and communities. Mediators' recommendations are not binding. Scot Beckenbaugh, acting head of the FMCS during an unsuccessful effort to resolve the 2004-05 NHL lockout, was assigned to the negotiations with John Sweeney, the FMCS' director of mediation services.

The NHL and the NHL Players' Assn. have agreed to take their labor dispute to federal mediators in an effort to reach an agreement that would preserve part of the 2012-13 season. George H. Cohen, director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, said in a statement Monday that the league and the union had consented to involve mediators in the process. The league locked out players on Sept. 15 and has canceled the All-Star game and regular-season games through Dec. 14, including the showcase Winter Classic outdoor game.

H. Warren Knight, 83, a retired Orange County judge who in 1979 founded a private mediation and arbitration service in Santa Ana that has since expanded to offices across the country and to Canada and Europe, died Nov. 15 at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach of complications from lung disease. His death was announced by his company, which is now based in Irvine and known as JAMS the Resolution Experts. Knight was an Orange County Superior Court judge looking forward to early retirement when he founded Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services Inc. The firm offered what was then an emerging concept called alternative dispute resolution, in which retired judges, for a fee, serve as third-party deciders in disputes between companies and individuals.

Looks like it'll be a bake sale after all. Hostess Brands Inc. said Tuesday that mediation efforts with the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco and Grain Millers Union were unsuccessful, and that means the Twinkies maker will either liquidate or sell off its assets. The company will go before a bankruptcy judge in White Plains, N.Y., on Wednesday. The company said it will have no further comment until after the hearing. Quiz: How well do you know fast food? The failed talks will likely be devastating news to legions of Americans who stockpiled Ding Dongs and Ho Ho's after Hostess said Friday that it was shutting down - then rejoiced a few days later when the company agreed to further negotiations with the union.

Twinkies may live on after all. Bankrupt Hostess Brands Inc. and its striking union agreed to enter into mediation to try to resolve their differences, putting the baking company's planned liquidation on hold for now. At a U.S. Bankruptcy Court hearing Monday in White Plains, N.Y., the 82-year-old company sought permission to start shutting down its business. Instead, Judge Robert Drain urged Hostess and the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union to consider mediation.

There may be hope for Twinkies after all: Hostess Brands Inc. and its striking union agreed to a mediation that will forestall the company's planned liquidation for the time being. At a bankruptcy court hearing Monday in New York, 82-year-old Hostess had planned to ask permission to start shutting down its business. Instead, Judge Robert Drain urged the company and the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International union to consider mediation. Both sides agreed to try to work through their conflict, which would preserve more than 18,000 jobs that will otherwise disappear if the Irving, Texas-based company closes its doors.